Green call to ban freeways

The Public Transport Users Association has today made a submission to the Garnaut Climate Change Review calling for a halt to the construction of new freeways and other major arterial roads in a bid to cut emissions from vehicles.

Using a document they claim backs their view point, the group says that the expansion of freeways does nothing to alleviate congestion and instead encourages car use and worsens gridlock.

“The need to shift a large proportion of motor vehicle journeys to walking, cycling and public transport, as well as the counter-productive effects of road capacity expansion, both demonstrate the need for a moratorium on new roads.”

Critics of the submission agree a combination of better roads and the construction of more efficient, reliable and more frequent public transport would be a better answer than to isolate one particular mode of transport individually, especially given the financial losses that could face the transport industry as a result of such drastic “knee jerk” responses.

Australian transport emissions make up only 14% of all national greenhouse gases annually.